Psychology

Kristin Lagattuta

Associate Professor

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Dr. Lagattuta's research focuses on the development of young children's knowledge about people in terms of their inner, mental lives--what a person desires, intends, believes, thinks about, and feels emotionally. How and when do children form a "theory of mind,: or a psychological understanding, of themselves and other people? In a series of studies, Dr. Lagattuta has been investigating developmental changes in children's (3- to 8-year-olds') understanding of connections between the mind and emotions. Results of her research show that children develop numerous sophisticated insights about mental causes of emotions during the preschool and early grade-school years. That is, young children appreciate that emotions can be caused by remembering or being reminded about past emotional experiences, and by thinking about what might happen in the future. Additional studies examine children's causal knowledge about emotions following willpower and transgression decisions (links between psychological and moral reasoning), differences in children's understanding of negative versus positive emotions, parent-child talk about emotions and mental states, children's understanding of the sources of worries and fears, children's optimism and knowledge about positive thinking, children's knowledge about the influence of emotions on thoughts, and children's reasoning about future-oriented thoughts, emotions, and decisions.